Avalanche 378BH

[Ranchhand]

It’s been awhile since I’ve been on here but the wife and I are looking at upgrading fifth wheels to an avalanche 378BH. The awning placement on the side of the camper is a little ridiculous in my opinion. They have a fairly big one in front of the camp side slide and then a little one over the outdoor kitchen behind the camp side slide. I can’t figure out why they don’t put the second awning on the slide. Has anyone added another awning to the slide? If so how much did it cost?

Thanks in advance for any information.

Kevin

[chuckster57]

Adding an awning to a slide after it’s built can be a bit daunting. Probably no backing for the rail, and arms. Running the wiring can be fun.

Can it be done? Yeah, but not worth the cost IMO.

[JRTJH]

Have you considered the "why" with Keystone's awning placement and thought about how you'd be able to use an awning mounted on the curbside slide???

First, there are opposing "full width slides" on that floorplan. The "total trailer width" with slides deployed is 42"+100"+42" (184") which is 15'4" before you extend any awnings. The OEM awnings are 8' wide and mounted on the sidewall, which makes the width 42"+100"+96" for a total of , that means 11'8" + 8' for a total of 19'8". Adding another 8' of awning to the 42" extension already created by the slide would mean increasing the total trailer "parked width" to 24'.

I'd suspect that you'll find very few "full hookup campground sites" that would be wide enough to be able to deploy an awning mounted on the side of the curbside slide... Most places where we've stayed in "formal commercial campgrounds" we had "parking issues" trying to stay away from the power pedestal on our "slide side" and still be able to extend our awning on the curbside....

Looking at the "logic" that Keystone likely used when designing the floorplan, I'd suspect they intended awnings to be functional "over all entry doors and activity centers" and at the same time, keep the "trailer setup footprint" within some reasonable width so it could be used in most campground sites.

Trust me when I say that you'll encounter very few campgrounds in these days of "high prices and packing sites into available real estate" where there will be 25' of usable width between the power pedestal and the neighbor's power pedestal/sewer connection at most campsites....

I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't install an awning on the slide sidewall, but rather attempting to bring the negative issues you may find after spending that much money only to find that there's just not very many places where you could actually use it after installing it.... YMMV

[Ranchhand]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Have you considered the "why" with Keystone's awning placement and thought about how you'd be able to use an awning mounted on the curbside slide???

First, there are opposing "full width slides" on that floorplan. The "total trailer width" with slides deployed is 42"+100"+42" (184") which is 15'4" before you extend any awnings. The OEM awnings are 8' wide and mounted on the sidewall, which makes the width 42"+100"+96" for a total of , that means 11'8" + 8' for a total of 19'8". Adding another 8' of awning to the 42" extension already created by the slide would mean increasing the total trailer "parked width" to 24'.

I'd suspect that you'll find very few "full hookup campground sites" that would be wide enough to be able to deploy an awning mounted on the side of the curbside slide... Most places where we've stayed in "formal commercial campgrounds" we had "parking issues" trying to stay away from the power pedestal on our "slide side" and still be able to extend our awning on the curbside....

Looking at the "logic" that Keystone likely used when designing the floorplan, I'd suspect they intended awnings to be functional "over all entry doors and activity centers" and at the same time, keep the "trailer setup footprint" within some reasonable width so it could be used in most campground sites.

Trust me when I say that you'll encounter very few campgrounds in these days of "high prices and packing sites into available real estate" where there will be 25' of usable width between the power pedestal and the neighbor's power pedestal/sewer connection at most campsites....

I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't install an awning on the slide sidewall, but rather attempting to bring the negative issues you may find after spending that much money only to find that there's just not very many places where you could actually use it after installing it.... YMMV

Well are cougar that we have now has an awning on the slide which also has opposing slides. In our situation on our seasonal site it works fine. Maybe Keystone has some logic in that model but there are numerous other models that have the same setup. In my situation the awning on the slide just makes our outdoor furniture work better. I’m sure I’m in a little bit of a minority because I sit on a seasonal site

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Ranchhand

Well are cougar that we have now has an awning on the slide which also has opposing slides. In our situation on our seasonal site it works fine. Maybe Keystone has some logic in that model but there are numerous other models that have the same setup. In my situation the awning on the slide just makes our outdoor furniture work better. I’m sure I’m in a little bit of a minority because I sit on a seasonal site

You're right, there are a couple of floorplans in the Cougar line that do have awnings mounted on the curbside slide with opposing slides, but the vast majority of those floorplans don't have "full width slides" on the roadside, rather they are "half width slides housing the refrigerator and range"... The trailer you're looking at has "full width slides" on both sides. That's been one of the complaints from owners in the past and is probably a factor in why Keystone has shyed away from putting awnings on full width opposing slides on new floorplans....

At least in your case, with a seasonal site, you won't be trying to open your trailer door and tripping over your neighbor's sewer hose.

If you do decide to install an awning on your slide sidewall, I'd urge you to contact Keystone and see if the slide framing was engineered to support the weight of an awning. Many slide frames are built to only support the "bare minimum" to keep trailer weight down to a reasonable "dry weight"... Keystone should be able to confirm whether the slide aluminum framing will support an awning before you proceed.

[sourdough]

I would be talking to the dealer about the pros and cons of the addition as an add on. Let them do it and take the issues that may or may not come with it. I wouldn't do it by myself - way too many things go wrong with an RV to make a mod that could cause you real grief. These things are built to barely stay together much less putting that much stress on the edge of slide not built for it when the wind kicks that awning 4' in the air.

[chuckster57]

Not to mention where the 12V wiring for the ceiling lights might be. BTDT